An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: It may sit in the shade of China and India, but tech has real growth potential in Southeast Asia. Home to a cumulative 650 million people, the region’s digital economy is forecast to triple in size and reach $240 billion over the next seven years, according to Google’s third “e-Conomy SEA” report. The annual study, which is authored by Google and Singapore…

New York Times: The ruling party in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh is giving out smartphones preloaded with two campaign apps to voters as “gifts” but also to target them — RAIPUR, India — Forget the old American campaign slogan of a chicken in every pot, or the Indian politician’s common pledge to put rice in every bowl. Source: http://www.techmeme.com

A kidney was flown thousands of meters by a drone without incurring any damage. Reader Wave723 shares a report: When a patient who needs an organ transplantation is finally matched with a donor, every second matters. A longer wait between when an organ is removed from a donor and when it is placed into a recipient is associated with poorer organ function following transplantation. To maximize the chances of success,…

Erica Pandey / Axios: JD.com CEO Richard Liu, who faces a rape accusation in Minnesota, says he will step down from management of the Chinese e-commerce giant; stock drops 5%+ — Richard Liu, the billionaire CEO of JD.com who is facing a rape accusation in Minnesota, said today that he will step aside from management of the Chinese e-commerce giant. Source: http://www.techmeme.com

Ina Fried / Axios: Tim Cook says some government regulation of Silicon Valley is inevitable, defends deal to make Google Apple’s default search engine despite privacy concerns — If Apple is so big on users’ privacy, why does the company take billions of dollars from Google in exchange for letting the search giant … Source: http://www.techmeme.com

An anonymous reader shares a report: The relatively new blockchain gaming industry is about to take a massive step forward as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making their way onto the PlayStation 4. Arcade Distillery, a game developer that creates titles for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, is gearing up to launch a new game for the PS4 built around the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Plague Hunters is a…